Technology budget manager for mobile employees

ABSTRACT

An automated system and method for budgeting technology expenses for an individual based on an objective standard, wherein the system comprises a database comprising a list of technologies used by the individual; a controller connected to the database, the controller being adapted to establish a monetary budget allotment for the individual corresponding to use of the technologies by the individual; at least one data component connected to the controller, the data component comprising specifications attributed to the individual, wherein the specifications comprise rules for defining the monetary budget allotment for the individual; and at least one monitor connected to the controller, the monitor being adapted to track dynamic parameters affecting the monetary budget allotment for the individual, wherein the individual comprises a mobile employee performing work-related duties for an organization.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The embodiments of the invention generally relate to computer softwareand associated tools, and more particularly to a software tool used fora business or organization to manage its workforce.

2. Description of the Related Art

In traditional office environments, businesses (i.e., companies andother types of organizations) tend to pay all expenses for an employeewho works on-site (i.e. overhead relating to printing supplies, officespace, telephones, internet access, etc.). Currently, there is a trendto move employees from traditional offices to home offices (i.e.,telecommuting), which helps in significantly decreasing office overheadcosts. In some cases, this trend has resulted in upwards of 40% oftraditional employees becoming mobile employees, especially forIT(information technology)-related businesses. The term “mobileemployee” used herein describes an employee without a permanent physicalbusiness/organizational office, and who may work at home or telecommutefrom some other location.

Mobile employees tend to have different technology needs from those in atraditional business office and most of these needs involve tools andservices (i.e., cell phones, wireless data networks, wireless handheldcomputers, internet access, etc.) which are provided externally. Theassociated expenses involved in providing these tools and services arevariable and are often the first ones reduced when the business isreducing costs in difficult financial times.

The expense budgets and associated processes related to mobile employeesare often inflexible and difficult to effectively manage and may evencreate employee satisfaction/unsatisfaction issues. When the manager orbusiness policies dictate too much detail on expenses, the employee canbe dissatisfied and the expense allocation becomes inefficient.Moreover, businesses and organizations are consistently looking for waysto attract and retain their employees and to monitor employeeproductivity in light of internal budget requirements. Furthermore, formobile employees, these concerns remain in effect, but are often morecomplicated to manage. Therefore, there remains a need for an automatedobjective tool that enables business and/or organizational managers toequitably assign employees a technology budget based on work locationattributes and job attributes and for intelligent monitors that examinean employee's work patterns.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, an embodiment of the invention provides anautomated system for budgeting technology expenses for an individualbased on an objective standard, wherein the system comprises a databasecomprising a list of technologies used by the individual; a controllerconnected to the database, the controller being adapted to establish amonetary budget allotment for the individual corresponding to use of thetechnologies by the individual; at least one data component connected tothe controller, the data component comprising specifications attributedto the individual, wherein the specifications comprise rules fordefining the monetary budget allotment for the individual; and at leastone monitor connected to the controller, the monitor being adapted totrack dynamic parameters affecting the monetary budget allotment for theindividual, wherein the individual comprises a mobile employeeperforming work-related duties for an organization.

The data component comprises a location component comprising a worklocation code identifier corresponding to a location where the employeeperforms a majority of the work-related duties; and an attributesidentifier corresponding to employee-related attributes including any ofemployee skill level, years of service with the organization, and jobclassification. The system further comprises an individual recordcomponent adapted to track expenses relating to the use of thetechnologies by the individual and to compare the tracked expenses withthe monetary budget allotment; and an expense reporting componentconnected to the monitor, wherein the expense reporting component beingadapted to facilitate a transaction between the employee and theorganization for a reimbursement of expenses corresponding to theemployee using personal resources of the employee for performance of thework-related duties.

The controller is adapted to fluctuate the monetary budget allotment ofthe individual based on the specifications and changes to the dynamicparameters. The monitor comprises a travel monitor adapted to track atravel frequency of the employee for performance of the work-relatedduties; a usage monitor adapted to track a usage of telephonic and datatransfer devices by the employee during times of performance of thework-related duties by the employee; a rate changes monitor adapted totrack changes in service provider fees for using the technologies; and atravel monitor adapted to track a frequency of the employee using apersonal vehicle of the employee for performance of the work-relatedduties.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method for budgetingtechnology expenses for an individual based on an objective standardusing a computer system, wherein the method comprises creating a list oftechnologies used by the individual; establishing a monetary budgetallotment for the individual corresponding to use of the technologies bythe individual; formulating specifications attributed to the individual,wherein the specifications comprise rules for defining the monetarybudget allotment for the individual; and monitoring dynamic parametersaffecting the monetary budget allotment for the individual, wherein theindividual comprises a mobile employee performing work-related dutiesfor an organization.

The method further comprises identifying a work location codecorresponding to a location where the employee performs a majority ofthe work-related duties; identifying attributes corresponding toemployee-related attributes including any of employee skill level, yearsof service with the organization, and job classification; trackingexpenses relating to the use of the technologies by the individual; andcomparing the tracked expenses with the monetary budget allotment.

Moreover, the method comprises fluctuating the monetary budget allotmentof the individual based on the specifications and changes to the dynamicparameters; tracking a travel frequency of the employee for performanceof the work-related duties; tracking a usage of telephonic and datatransfer devices by the employee during times of performance of thework-related duties by the employee; tracking changes in serviceprovider fees for using the technologies; tracking a frequency of theemployee using a personal vehicle of the employee for performance of thework-related duties; and facilitating a transaction between the employeeand the organization for a reimbursement of expenses corresponding tothe employee using personal resources of the employee for performance ofthe work-related duties.

Another embodiment of the invention provides a program storage devicereadable by computer, tangibly embodying a program of instructionsexecutable by the computer to perform a method of budgeting technologyexpenses for an individual based on an objective standard using acomputer system, wherein the method comprises creating a list oftechnologies used by the individual; establishing a monetary budgetallotment for the individual corresponding to use of the technologies bythe individual; formulating specifications attributed to the individual,wherein the specifications comprise rules for defining the monetarybudget allotment for the individual; and monitoring dynamic parametersaffecting the monetary budget allotment for the individual.

Another embodiment of the invention provides a service for budgetingtechnology expenses for an individual based on an objective standardusing a computer system; the service creating a list of technologiesused by the individual; establishing a monetary budget allotment for theindividual corresponding to use of the technologies by the individual;formulating specifications attributed to the individual, wherein thespecifications comprise rules for defining the monetary budget allotmentfor the individual; and monitoring dynamic parameters affecting themonetary budget allotment for the individual.

The embodiments of the invention achieve several advantages includingthat the employee knows how much they can expense for technology toolsand services; the business can plan a more effective budget for theiremployees; budget allocations are more equitable because of the use ofan objective tool rather than a subjective process; and the use of“monitors” that track patterns which then adjust budgets according topolicies.

These and other aspects of the embodiments of the invention will bebetter appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction withthe following description and the accompanying drawings. It should beunderstood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicatingpreferred embodiments of the invention and numerous specific detailsthereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Manychanges and modifications may be made within the scope of theembodiments of the invention without departing from the spirit thereof,and the embodiments of the invention include all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments of the invention will be better understood from thefollowing detailed description with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a mobile employee budget systemaccording to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a mobile expense report process according toan embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 3(A) through 3(C) are flow diagrams illustrating preferred methodsof an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a computer system according to anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments of the invention and the various features andadvantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference tothe non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings and detailed in the following description. It should be notedthat the features illustrated in the drawings are not necessarily drawnto scale. Descriptions of well-known components and processingtechniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure theembodiments of the invention. The examples used herein are intendedmerely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodimentsof the invention may be practiced and to further enable those of skillin the art to practice the embodiments of the invention. Accordingly,the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of theembodiments of the invention.

As mentioned, there remains a need for an automated objective tool thatenables business and/or organizational managers to equitably assignemployees a technology budget based on work location attributes and jobattributes and for intelligent monitors that examine an employee's workpatterns. The embodiments of the invention address this need byproviding a system and method to intelligently manage a technologybudget for a mobile employee. The embodiments of the invention alsogenerate a budget based on attributes about the employee and their workenvironment. Moreover, the system and method provided by the embodimentsof the invention allow a mobile employee to select corporate approvedtechnologies from a technology cafeteria plan. With a budget, the mobileemployee knows how much he/she can spend, and has the latitude and apartial autonomy over his/her own budget. Referring now to the drawingsand more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 4 where similar referencecharacters denote corresponding features consistently throughout thefigures, there are shown preferred embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a mobile employee budget system 100 according to anembodiment of the invention. The mobile employee budget system 100comprises a cafeteria plan component 110 (which may be embodied as acomputerized database), which includes a management approved list 111 ofmobile technologies that the mobile workforce may use and expense.Preferably, the management tests the various mobile technologies priorto approving them in order to assure compatibility of the mobiletechnologies with the needs of the mobile employees. The mobile employeebudget system 100 also includes a work location technology budgetcomponent 120. In this regard, the management assigns a work locationcode to each employee based on where they spend most of their time.Examples of work location codes include: “T” for Traveler, “H” for Workat Home, “S” for Standard Office. The management defines a basetechnology budget for each work location code that starts to define howmuch an employee may expense for these tools. A standard office locationwould start with a zero or a very limited budget because most expensesare covered by the company in-house. Comparatively, a mobile employee or“work at home” location would start with a larger budget to coverexpenses that occur to enable a mobile employee to be effective andproductive.

Next, the mobile employee budget system 100 includes an employeeattributes component 130, whereby the management defines attributes theywant to define for an employee that would impact the technology budget120. Attribute examples include the skill level of the employee, yearswith the company, job code, etc. Each of these attributes can then bedefined with a budget percentage increase to change the base worklocation technology budget 120 for a mobile employee. For example, anemployee who is a senior technical staff member with 20 years ofexperience should presumably be allotted a larger budget than anemployee who is a recent college graduate having less than 6 months ofexperience.

The mobile employee budget system 100 further includes an additionalbudget rules component 140, wherein the management may want to defineadditional rules to impact the overall technology budget. An example ofa rule is, “for every patent an employee creates, they get an additionalone percent budget increase for a year.” In another example of a rule,“employees that travel internationally receive additional budgetallowances to cover roaming charges for their cell phone use.”

Additionally, the mobile employee budget system 100 includes an employeerecord component 150, which is a collection of all of the employeesattributes 130, which is then stored in a system database 170. Theemployee record component 150 receives updates from an external humanresource system (part of system database 170) each month and tracks theremaining budget total either yearly or monthly based on corporaterequirements. To determine the remaining budget allowed to be spent, theemployee record component 150 monitors how much the system 100 pays theemployee for expense reports. If an employee exceeds his/her budget, theemployee must follow the expense report exception process 205 (describedin FIG. 2) to justify any expenses over their allocated budget.

Again, with reference to FIG. 1, the employee record component 150includes an employee technology budget component 160. The employeetechnology budget 160 is set based on the work location technologybudget 120, employee attributes 130, additional budget rules 140, andthe employee record 150. That is, the employee technology budget 160 isbased on the various factors affecting the status of the employee (i.e.,technology needs of the employee as defined by the cafeteria plan 110,the employee's experience and other attributes 130, additional rules 140affecting a particular employee, and the standard (i.e., objectivestandard) assigned to a particular employee's position and technologybudget criteria in light of his/her work location (i.e., work locationtechnology budget 120)). Furthermore, the employee technology budgetcomponent 160 can be updated when changes occur in the employeeattributes 130 and when intelligent monitors 180 determine theemployees' work activity justify an increase or decrease in the employeetechnology budget 160. The system 100 updates the employee technologybudget 160 periodically, which can be performed monthly or yearly, orproject to project based on the preferences or policies of thebusiness/organization.

The intelligent monitors 180 include a travel frequency monitor 181, ausage monitor 182, a corporate negotiated rates changes monitor 183, anda local travel monitor 184. The travel frequency monitor 181 tracks thefrequency that the employee travels. Based on the rules defined in theadditional budget rules 140, the system 100 may update the employeetechnology budget 160 if the travel frequency monitor indicates anincrease/decrease in the employee's travel frequency. The travelfrequency monitor 181 monitors employee expense reports 201 (of FIG. 2)for travel related expenses to determine if adjustments should be made.

In FIG. 1, the usage monitor 182 tracks the employee's use of wirelessvoice and data usage and makes changes to the employee technology budget160 based on rules in the additional budget rules component 140. If theemployee is not using a flat rate service, the minute plan may need tobe increased or decreased based on usage; i.e., if many customer callsare coming into the employee's cell phone and is using more minutes thanare being paid for in the standard plan, the system 100 increases thetechnology budget 160 and recommends a plan change. Accordingly, it isassumed that the employee reports actual usage of voice and data on theexpense report 201 (of FIG. 2).

With reference to FIG. 1, the corporate negotiated rate changes monitor183 tracks contracts that the business negotiates with serviceproviders. When rate reductions are realized, the system 100automatically adjusts the employee technology budget 160 accordingly.Likewise when rate increases occur, the system 100 automatically adjuststhe employee technology budget 160 accordingly. The local travel monitor184 can be implemented using two different methods to track how much theemployee uses their vehicle for business. A manual system can be usedwhere the employee keeps track of business miles driven and expensesthem using the expense reporting process 201 (of FIG. 2). The localtravel monitor 184 would monitor for these local travel expenses andadjust the employee technology budget as necessary. An alternative wouldbe to use an on-board vehicular computer system (not shown) toautomatically record and report business usage of the vehicle (notshown). When an employee uses their vehicle, they indicate to thecomputer system (not shown) that the trip is for business. At the end ofthe trip, an on-board computer system (not shown) passes a message tothe system 100 for analysis and expense reporting. The local travelmonitor 184 would monitor for these local travel expenses and adjust theemployee technology budget as necessary.

FIG. 2, with reference to FIG. 1, illustrates an expense reportingprocess according to an embodiment of the invention. The expensereporting process may involve the employee seeking reimbursement for anypersonal resources (i.e., employee's personal resources such as money,personal credit card, personal automobile, house, etc.) used by theemployee during the performance of work-related duties. According to theprocess, the employee submits (201) expense reports to be reimbursed forexpenses incurred while conducting business for thebusiness/organization. The system 100 then pays (209) the employee forthe requested amount in the expense report. If the employee believesthey should be reimbursed for more than their allocated employeetechnology budget 160, they may seek to determine whether an exception(203) should be made and that they should be reimbursed for theadditional amount. If there is no exception (‘No’), then the system 100does not pay (211) the additional amount. If there is an exception(‘Yes’), then the employee makes an exception request (205) and it thengoes to manager approval (207) of the request. If the manager approves(‘Yes’) the exception request, then the system 100 pays (209) theemployee's reimbursement request or issues cash funds to the employee.If the manager does not approve (‘No’) the exception request, then, thenthe employee has the option of re-submitting (201) the expense report.The system 100 then updates the employee record to indicate theremaining budget available.

For some businesses/organizations the expense reporting process can beoperated using a simple e-mail work-flow process. The employee beginsthe expense reporting process (201) by sending a correspondence (i.e.,e-mail) requesting reimbursement to their manager. The manager canapprove and forward the correspondence (e-mail) to the individualresponsible for reimbursing funds to the employee. These funds may besent directly to the employee's back account, or added to their next paycheck, or a check may be issued to the employee, etc.

FIG. 3(A) is a flowchart illustrating a method for budgeting technologyexpenses for an individual based on an objective standard using acomputer system, wherein the method comprises creating (301) a list oftechnologies used by the individual; establishing (303) a monetarybudget allotment for the individual corresponding to use of thetechnologies by the individual; formulating (305) specificationsattributed to the individual, wherein the specifications comprise rulesfor defining the monetary budget allotment for the individual; andmonitoring (307) dynamic parameters affecting the monetary budgetallotment for the individual, wherein the individual comprises a mobileemployee performing work-related duties for an organization.Work-related duties may include anything the employee does for thepurposes of carrying out the duties described in a job description forthat particular employee, as defined by the management.

As shown in FIG. 3(B), the method further comprises identifying (321) awork location code corresponding to a location where the employeeperforms a majority of the work-related duties; identifying (323)attributes corresponding to employee-related attributes including any ofemployee skill level, years of service with the organization, and jobclassification; tracking (325) expenses relating to the use of thetechnologies by the individual; and comparing (327) the tracked expenseswith the monetary budget allotment.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 3(C), the method comprises fluctuating(331) the monetary budget allotment of the individual based on thespecifications and changes to the dynamic parameters; tracking (333) atravel frequency of the employee for performance of the work-relatedduties; tracking (335) a usage of telephonic and data transfer devicesby the employee during times of performance of the work-related dutiesby the employee; tracking (337) changes in service provider fees forusing the technologies; tracking (339) a frequency of the employee usinga personal vehicle of the employee for performance of the work-relatedduties; and facilitating (341) a transaction between the employee andthe organization for a reimbursement of expenses corresponding to theemployee using personal resources of the employee for performance of thework-related duties.

A representative hardware environment for practicing the embodiments ofthe invention is depicted in FIG. 4. This schematic drawing illustratesa hardware configuration of an information handling/computer system inaccordance with the embodiments of the invention. The system comprisesat least one processor or central processing unit (CPU) 10. The CPUs 10are interconnected via system bus 12 to various devices such as a randomaccess memory (RAM) 14, read-only memory (ROM) 16, and an input/output(I/O) adapter 18. The I/O adapter 18 can connect to peripheral devices,such as disk units 11 and tape drives 13, or other program storagedevices that are readable by the system. The system can read theinventive instructions on the program storage devices and follow theseinstructions to execute the methodology of the embodiments of theinvention. The system further includes a user interface adapter 19 thatconnects a keyboard 15, mouse 17, speaker 24, microphone 22, and/orother user interface devices such as a touch screen device (not shown)to the bus 12 to gather user input. Additionally, a communicationadapter 20 connects the bus 12 to a data processing network 25, and adisplay adapter 21 connects the bus 12 to a display device 23 which maybe embodied as an output device such as a monitor, printer, ortransmitter, for example.

The embodiments of the invention achieve several advantages includingthat the employee knows how much they can expense for technology toolsand services; the business can plan a more effective budget for theiremployees; budget allocations are more equitable because of the use ofan objective tool rather than a subjective process; and the use ofmonitors 180 (i.e., software agents) that track patterns which thenadjust budgets 160 according to policies.

The system 100 provided by the embodiments of the invention could bemarketed by a company's internal human resources department as a benefitto recruit new employees. This would be viewed as a positive benefitthat the company is allowing the employee to invest in technology toperform their job done while at the same time introducing a potentialsavings to the business/organization. Moreover, the system 100 providedby the embodiments of the invention together with all of its components(as illustrated in FIG. 1) may include computer logic circuitry adaptedand programmed to perform the various functions described above.

The embodiments of the invention change the typical subjective means ofmanaging budgets found in conventional approaches to a very objectivetechnique that can be automated through the triggers described in thedescription. The conventional approaches have generally not tread in thesolution provided by the embodiments of the invention because mostcompanies/business entities have consisted of traditional office workers(i.e., non-mobile employees). The embodiments of the invention weredeveloped to address a recent phenomena whereby companies are now movingtowards a much larger portion of nontraditional or mobile workers(upwards of 40% in some cases). This shift has created a need to allowmuch greater flexibility in supporting these mobile workers from aservices stand-point and associated budget.

Accordingly, the solution provided by the embodiments of the inventionhas not been addressed before because (1) there has not been a need inthe past given the high percentage of traditional office workers asdiscussed above; and (2) the means of automating with objectiveinformation the association of personalized needs with an appropriatebudget has been far too complex in the past. Further budgets aretypically static in nature. Once a budget is set it does not change veryoften and employees work to stay within their expense budgets. Thus, theembodiments of the invention create a dynamic aspect to budgets based onobjective data collected about the employee rather than subjectiveapproaches indicative of conventional solutions.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fullyreveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applyingcurrent knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applicationssuch specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept,and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and areintended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalentsof the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that thephraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose ofdescription and not of limitation. Therefore, while the invention hasbeen described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in theart will recognize that the embodiments of the invention can bepracticed with modification within the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims.

1. An automated system for budgeting technology expenses for anindividual based on an objective standard, said system comprising: adatabase comprising a list of technologies used by said individual; acontroller connected to said database, said controller being adapted toestablish a monetary budget allotment for said individual correspondingto use of said technologies by said individual; at least one datacomponent connected to said controller, said data component comprisingspecifications attributed to said individual, wherein saidspecifications comprise rules for defining said monetary budgetallotment for said individual; and at least one monitor connected tosaid controller, said monitor being adapted to track dynamic parametersaffecting said monetary budget allotment for said individual.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein said individual comprises an employeeperforming work-related duties for an organization.
 3. The system ofclaim 2, wherein said employee comprises a mobile employee.
 4. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein said data component comprises a locationcomponent comprising a work location code identifier corresponding to alocation where said employee performs a majority of said work-relatedduties.
 5. The system of claim 2, wherein said data component comprisesan attributes identifier corresponding to employee-related attributesincluding any of employee skill level, years of service with saidorganization, and job classification.
 6. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising an individual record component adapted to track expensesrelating to said use of said technologies by said individual and tocompare the tracked expenses with said monetary budget allotment.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein said controller is adapted to fluctuate saidmonetary budget allotment of said individual based on saidspecifications and changes to said dynamic parameters.
 8. The system ofclaim 2, wherein said monitor comprises a travel monitor adapted totrack a travel frequency of said employee for performance of saidwork-related duties.
 9. The system of claim 2, wherein said monitorcomprises a usage monitor adapted to track a usage of telephonic anddata transfer devices by said employee during times of performance ofsaid work-related duties by said employee.
 10. The system of claim 2,wherein said monitor comprises a rate changes monitor adapted to trackchanges in service provider fees for using said technologies.
 11. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein said monitor comprises a travel monitoradapted to track a frequency of said employee using a personal vehicleof said employee for performance of said work-related duties.
 12. Thesystem of claim 2, further comprising an expense reporting componentconnected to said monitor, wherein said expense reporting componentbeing adapted to facilitate a transaction between said employee and saidorganization for a reimbursement of expenses corresponding to saidemployee using personal resources of said employee for performance ofsaid work-related duties.
 13. A method for budgeting technology expensesfor an individual based on an objective standard using a computersystem, said method comprising: creating a list of technologies used bysaid individual; establishing a monetary budget allotment for saidindividual corresponding to use of said technologies by said individual;formulating specifications attributed to said individual, wherein saidspecifications comprise rules for defining said monetary budgetallotment for said individual; and monitoring dynamic parametersaffecting said monetary budget allotment for said individual.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, wherein said individual comprises an employeeperforming work-related duties for an organization.
 15. The method ofclaim 14, wherein said employee comprises a mobile employee.
 16. Themethod of claim 14, further comprising identifying a work location codecorresponding to a location where said employee performs a majority ofsaid work-related duties.
 17. The method of claim 14, further comprisingidentifying attributes corresponding to employee-related attributesincluding any of employee skill level, years of service with saidorganization, and job classification.
 18. The method of claim 13,further comprising: tracking expenses relating to said use of saidtechnologies by said individual; and comparing the tracked expenses withsaid monetary budget allotment.
 19. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising fluctuating said monetary budget allotment of said individualbased on said specifications and changes to said dynamic parameters. 20.The method of claim 14, further comprising tracking a travel frequencyof said employee for performance of said work-related duties.
 21. Themethod of claim 14, further comprising tracking a usage of telephonicand data transfer devices by said employee during times of performanceof said work-related duties by said employee.
 22. The method of claim14, further comprising tracking changes in service provider fees forusing said technologies.
 23. The method of claim 14, further comprisingtracking a frequency of said employee using a personal vehicle of saidemployee for performance of said work-related duties.
 24. The method ofclaim 14, further comprising facilitating a transaction between saidemployee and said organization for a reimbursement of expensescorresponding to said employee using personal resources of said employeefor performance of said work-related duties.
 25. A program storagedevice readable by computer, tangibly embodying a program ofinstructions executable by said computer to perform a method ofbudgeting technology expenses for an individual based on an objectivestandard using a computer system, said method comprising: creating alist of technologies used by said individual; establishing a monetarybudget allotment for said individual corresponding to use of saidtechnologies by said individual; formulating specifications attributedto said individual, wherein said specifications comprise rules fordefining said monetary budget allotment for said individual; andmonitoring dynamic parameters affecting said monetary budget allotmentfor said individual.
 26. The program storage device of claim 25, whereinsaid individual comprises an employee performing work-related duties foran organization.
 27. The program storage device of claim 26, whereinsaid employee comprises a mobile employee.
 28. The program storagedevice of claim 26, wherein said method further comprises identifying awork location code corresponding to a location where said employeeperforms a majority of said work-related duties.
 29. The program storagedevice of claim 26, wherein said method further comprises identifyingattributes corresponding to employee-related attributes including any ofemployee skill level, years of service with said organization, and jobclassification.
 30. The program storage device of claim 25, wherein saidmethod further comprises: tracking expenses relating to said use of saidtechnologies by said individual; and comparing the tracked expenses withsaid monetary budget allotment.
 31. The program storage device of claim25, wherein said method further comprises fluctuating said monetarybudget allotment of said individual based on said specifications andchanges to said dynamic parameters.
 32. The program storage device ofclaim 26, wherein said method further comprises tracking a travelfrequency of said employee for performance of said work-related duties.33. The program storage device of claim 26, wherein said method furthercomprises tracking a usage of telephonic and data transfer devices bysaid employee during times of performance of said work-related duties bysaid employee.
 34. The program storage device of claim 26, wherein saidmethod further comprises tracking changes in service provider fees forusing said technologies.
 35. The program storage device of claim 26,wherein said method further comprises tracking a frequency of saidemployee using a personal vehicle of said employee for performance ofsaid work-related duties.
 36. The program storage device of claim 26,wherein said method further comprises facilitating a transaction betweensaid employee and said organization for a reimbursement of expensescorresponding to said employee using personal resources of said employeefor performance of said work-related duties.
 37. A service for budgetingtechnology expenses for an individual based on an objective standardusing a computer system, said service: creating a list of technologiesused by said individual; establishing a monetary budget allotment forsaid individual corresponding to use of said technologies by saidindividual; formulating specifications attributed to said individual,wherein said specifications comprise rules for defining said monetarybudget allotment for said individual; and monitoring dynamic parametersaffecting said monetary budget allotment for said individual.